Abstract

[From the Introduction]. Two security area issues are analysed in this study: the wider context and inner context. In the former, attention is drawn to three groups of factors which condition security in the Mediterranean and in other areas of the world: the systemic proprieties of security in the contemporary world; the new dimensions of security and security community building as perceived by political analysts; and the European and Arab security cultures. The analysis of the inner context, instead, reviews attempts and processes aimed at building security in the framing of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership. The list of factors examined here does not pretend to be complete. It is a selection of factors loosely inspired by Modelski’s (1996) theory of evolutionary world politics which sees the international system as bound to the formation of global institutions and, consequently, views regional political theatres as influenced by, rather than as autonomous from, the evolution of the global system. For this reason, the prospects of the Euro-Mediterranean security building process appear to be less dark than most analysts allow the Euro-Mediterranean partnership-makers to expect. However, to point out signs favourable to positive developments of security negotiations among Euro-Mediterranean countries does not imply that we underestimate difficulties and obstacles. The analysis of the inner context of Euro-Mediterranean security in this study acknowledges the slowing-down effect of these difficulties and obstacles on the making of security agreements in the area. The overall analysis, however, supports the prospect of progress in Mediterranean security building because it identifies incentives for managing security issues through co-operative and multilateral methods rather than through the conflict instruments of the single countries.